The president of the Union of Oil and Gas Industrialists, Gennady Shmal, said that while all taxes cannot be done with, they need to be cut so that the price of AI-95 gasoline and diesel will decrease by RUB7 to RUB8.

Mr Shmal noted that in Russia the tax component of fuel price is around 55% to 58%, compared to 23% to 25% in the US.

The Union of Oil and Gas Industrialists has urged the Russian government to take steps to ensure that the price of diesel does not exceed that of AI-95 gasoline and that diesel prices should be pegged closer to the price of AI-76 gasoline, reported Itar-Tass.

The union also called on the government to stabilize oil production, provide small and medium-sized producers access to oil refineries and foster conditions necessary to import processed fuels from countries like Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Ukraine to ease Russian diesel prices.